The Royal Mint is to issue a new series of Beatrix Potter coins that will likely include a new Peter Rabbit 50 pence piece.

The Mint has reportedly emailed its customers to announce a new set of coins and is already taking pre-orders.

The Peter Rabbit editions have proved the extremely popular among collectors - with previous editions selling for upwards of £600 online. Last year one even fetched £840 after five bidders battled it out on eBay.

The Royal Mint will reportedly announce a new series of Beatrix Potter coins this month, as they have every March since 2016. Each set has included a Peter Rabbit 50 pence piece, as well as other characters (Pictured: the 2018 set)

In a Facebook post earlier this week, Coin Hunter, an online community of dealers and collectors, speculated that the design might be 'Peter being chased by Mr McGregor or squeezing under Mr McGregor’s gate'.

The new design will be the fourth coin depicting Peter Rabbit to be minted onto a 50p piece.

It will be one of four new coins to be added to the mint's Beatrix Potter collection, which was first launched in March 2016 to commemorate 150 years since her birth.

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Every March since there has been a new set of coins featuring some of Potter's most beloved characters including Jeremy Fisher, Benajmin Bunny, Tom Kitten, the Tailor of Gloucester, Flopsy Bunny and Mrs Tittlemouse.

Coin enthusiasts have begun speculating on the characters that might appear in the latest selection, with Mr Tod, Tommy Brock, and Samuel Whiskers all in the running.

But every set has included one coin featuring Peter Rabbit.

In the 2018 coin, Peter Rabbit – arguably the author's most celebrated creation – is shown gleefully gnawing on several swiped carrots.

In the 2018 coin, Peter Rabbit (centre) is shown gleefully gnawing on several swiped carrots wearing his famous blue jacket. Coin enthusiasts have speculated that the new design might be 'Peter being chased by Mr McGregor or squeezing under Mr McGregor’s gate'

The 2017 coin featured Peter hopping away, while the 2016 version showed him holding onto the lapels of his trademark blue jacket.

According to Coin Hunter, the new 50p coins are likely cost £10, plus around £3 for delivery.

A colour printed Silver Proof coin will set you back £65, while a Gold Proof Gift Set retails for £1000.

Going by last year's precedent, the group estimate that there will be around 35,000 of each design, which can be bought directly from the Royal Mint.

Each image embossed on the coin is a painstaking recreation of the hand-painted illustrations which brought the books to life, the Mint has said.

The government-owned company, which operates on a 34-acre site in South Wales, can produce almost five billion coins a year.

How does the Royal Mint print commemorative coins in colour?

1. The coin's design is sketched out in the Royal Mint studio.

2. Coin designers then turn the designs into a special computer model, which is used to make the 'dies' – the tools used to stamp the design onto the coin.

3. Each die is polished by hand and struck up to six times to make sure every detail is perfect. The very precise machines at The Royal Mint mean that the coins can be very intricately designed.

4. Next, the three types of commemorative coin are struck: Proof, Brilliant Uncirculated and Bullion. Proofs are the highest standard of commemorative coin, then Brilliant Uncirculated coins and finally Bullion coins, which are a similar standard of finish to circulating coins.

A 50p coin issued by the Royal Mint last year featuring Raymond Briggs creation The Snowman, to celebrate 40 years since the publication of the timeless classic

Historically these coins were required in order to check the dies were working properly as well as for archival purposes. Nowadays however many more are struck especially for coin collectors.

5. The Proof, Brilliant Uncirculated and Bullion coins are each carefully checked over with special gloves and then the die is cleaned with air before it strikes the next coin.

6. Finally the Royal Mint uses a process called 'pad printing', where a machine actually prints permanent colour onto the coin, to make the drawings come to life.

Pad printing creates high-quality intricate details on small, 3D or unusually-shaped products, so is perfect for coinage. It is also quick and relatively cost effective.

Printing plates are prepared, etched with a series of tiny depressions that represent the coin's design.

Special, highly concentrated inks of cyan, magenta, yellow and black are mixed to create the right colours and applied to the etched surfaces of the plates.

Silicone pads are then lowered onto the plates, absorbing the ink.

Finally, in a carefully sequenced process, the pads deposit the ink onto the coin face in successive layers until the image is complete.

To make sure it doesn't fade or rub off, the ink is mixed with a hardener, which will give a durable finish.

7. In the packaging area, special gloves are worn by the Royal Mint workers who carefully check each coin and place it in its smart case.

8. Finally the coins are ready to fill shelves at The Royal Mint.

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